Overview

This chapter provides a brief overview of Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM). It also includes general DCNM deployment steps and details about preparing NX-OS devices for management and monitoring by DCNM.

Information About DCNM

DCNM is a management solution that maximizes overall data center infrastructure uptime and reliability, which improves business continuity. Focused on the management requirements of the data center network, DCNM provides a robust framework and rich feature set that fulfils the switching needs of present and future data centers. In particular, DCNM automates the provisioning process.

DCNM is a solution designed for Cisco NX-OS-enabled hardware platforms. Cisco NX-OS provides the foundation for the Cisco Nexus product family, including the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series.

DCNM Client and Server

DCNM is Java-based client-server application. For Java requirements, server system requirements, and client system requirements, see the Cisco DCNM Release Notes, Release 4.0, at the following website:

Figure 1-1 shows DCNM and the variety of NX-OS device configuration methods that are available to a user. The DCNM client communicates with the DCNM server only, never directly with managed NX-OS devices. The DCNM server uses the XML management interface of NX-OS devices to manage and monitor them. The XML management interface is a programmatic method based on the NETCONF protocol that complements the command-line interface (CLI) functionality. For more information, see the Cisco NX-OS XML Management Interface User Guide.

Figure 1-1 DCNM and Other NX-OS Device Configuration Methods

Features in DCNM, Release 4.0

DCNM 4.0 supports the configuration and monitoring of the following NX-OS features:

Documentation About DCNM

Deploying DCNM

You can deploy DCNM to manage and monitor supported network devices. This procedure provides the general steps that you must take to deploy DCNM and links to more detailed procedures to help you with each general step.

NX-OS Device Configuration Requirements

This section provides information about device configuration requirements and configuration tasks you must perform on NX-OS devices that you want to manage and monitor by using DCNM. You must perform the configuration tasks by using a method other than DCNM, such as the CLI.

Preparing an NX-OS Device for Management by DCNM

Before you perform device discovery with DCNM, you should perform the following procedure on each NX-OS device that you want to manage and monitor with DCNM. This procedure helps ensure that device discovery succeeds and that DCNM can effectively manage and monitor the device.

Step 3 Confirm that the XML server is enabled. To do so, use the show xml server status command.

If the XML server is not enabled, use the xml server command to enable it.

Step 4 Ensure that an RSA key exists so that secure shell (SSH) connections can succeed. To do so, use the show ssh key rsa command.

If you need to generate an RSA key, use the ssh key command.

Note You must disable the SSH server before you can generate a key. To do so, use the no ssh server enable command.

Step 5 Ensure that the SSH server is enabled. To do so, use the show ssh server command.

If the SSH server is not enabled, use the ssh server enable command to enable it.

Step 6 Ensure that CDP is enabled globally and on the interface that DCNM uses to connect to the device. Use the show run cdp all command to see whether CDP is enabled. For assistance with configuring CDP, see theCisco NX-OS System Management Configuration Guide (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/4_0/nx-os/system_management/ configuration/guide/sm_nx-os_config.html).

NX-OS System-Message Logging Requirements

To monitor and manage devices, DCNM depends partly on system messages for some NX-OS features. To ensure that DCNM receives the messages that it needs, you must ensure that all NX-OS devices managed and monitored by DCNM meet the logging requirements described in this section.

For information about configuring system-message logging on an NX-OS device, see the Cisco NX-OS System Management Configuration Guide.

Interface Link-Status Events Logging Requirement

You must configure the device to log system messages about interface link-status change events. This requirement ensures that DCNM receives information about interface link-status changes. The following two commands must be present in the running configuration on the device:

Logfile Requirements

You must configure the device to store system messages that are severity level 6 or lower in the log file.

Although you can specify any name for the log file, we recommend that you do not change the name of the log file. When you change the name of the log file, the device clears previous system messages. The default name of the log file is "messages".

If you use the default name for the log file, the following command must be present in the running configuration on the device:

Logging Severity-Level Requirements

All enabled features on an NX-OS have a default logging level. For features supported by DCNM, DCNM requires the logging severity levels set to a specific level depending on the feature. The logging level required varies from feature to feature. As of Cisco DCNM Release 4.0, DCNM cannot configure logging levels on the managed NX-OS devices. We plan to enhance DCNM to configure logging levels in a future release; however, with Cisco DCNM Release 4.0, you must ensure that any NX-OS device that you want to manage and monitor with DCNM is configured with logging levels that meet the logging-level requirements listed in Table 1-1.

When evaluating the logging-level configuration of a device, consider the following:

•DCNM has logging-level requirements for only the features listed in Table 1-1. If an NX-OS logging facility does not appear in Table 1-1, you do not need to configure a logging level in order for DCNM to successfully manage and monitor the device.

•The default NX-OS logging level for some facilities is not high enough to support management of the feature by DCNM. Be sure that you raise the logging level for a facility when its default level is not high enough to satisfy the DCNM logging-level requirement. In Table 1-1, DCNM logging levels that exceed the default logging level appear in bold text.

•You can set a logging level higher than the DCNM requirement. The maximum logging severity level is 7. If a logging level exceeds the DCNM requirement, you do not need to lower the logging level.

•NX-OS does not support logging-level configuration for disabled features. If you disable a feature, any nondefault logging level configuration is lost and is not restored if you reenable the feature later. When you enable a feature, perform the steps in "Configuring a Device to Meet DCNM Logging Requirements" section to ensure that logging level configuration for the feature meets DCNM requirements.

1Minimum DCNM logging levels appear in bold text for NX-OS logging facilities that have a default logging level that is too low.

Configuring a Device to Meet DCNM Logging Requirements

When you are preparing a device for management and monitoring by DCNM, you can perform an initial logging configuration. If you later enable a feature that was previously disabled, we recommend that you perform this procedure again to ensure that logging configuration on the device meets DCNM requirements.

You should also perform this procedure in a newly created VDC. Regardless of whether you used DCNM to create the VDC or whether you used the CLI, the logging configuration of a new VDC is only the default configuration and must be configured to support management and monitoring by DCNM.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Consider printing Table 1-1. You can use the Your Current Logging Level column to make notes about logging level configuration on the device.

For more information about configuring logging levels, see the Cisco NX-OS System Management Configuration Guide.

switch(config)# show running-config all | include "logging event link-status"

logging event link-status default

logging event link-status enable

If either command is missing, enter it to add it to the running configuration.

Note The logging event link-status enable is included in the default NX-OS configuration. The show running-config command displays default configuration only if you use the all keyword.

Step 4 Verify that the device is configured to log system messages that are severity 6 or lower.

Note The default name of the log file is "messages"; however, we recommend that you use the log-file name currently configured on the device. If you change the name of the log file, the device clears previous system messages.

switch(config)# show running-config all | include logfile

logging logfile logfile-name 6

If the logging logfile command does not appear or if the severity level is less than 6, configure the logging logfile command.

switch(config)# logging logfile logfile-name 6

Step 5 Determine which non-default features are enabled on the device.

switch(config)# show running-config | include feature

feature feature1

feature feature2

feature feature3

.

.

.

Step 6 View the logging levels currently configured on the device. The show logging level command displays logging levels only for features that are enabled. The Current Session Severity column lists the current logging level.

switch(config)# show logging level

Facility Default Severity Current Session Severity

-------- ---------------- ------------------------

aaa 3 5

aclmgr 3 3

.

.

.

For most logging facilities, you can use the show logging level command with the facility name when you want to see the logging level of a single logging facility, such as show logging level aaa; however, as of Cisco NX-OS Release 4.0(3), the show logging level command does not support this option with all logging facilities. We recommend that you use the full output from the show logging level command instead.

Step 7 Determine which logging levels on the device are below the minimum DCNM-required logging levels. To do so, compare the logging levels displayed in Step 6 to the minimum DCNM-required logging levels that are listed in Table 1-1.

Step 8 For each logging facility with a logging level that is below the minimum DCNM-required logging level, configure the device with a logging level that meets or exceeds the DCNM requirement.

switch(config)# logging levelfacilityseverity-level

The facility argument is the applicable logging-facility keyword from Table 1-1 and severity-level is the applicable minimum DCNM-required logging level or higher (up to 7).

Step 9 Use the show logging level command to verify your changes to the configuration.